Jews of Judea and Samaria
Jews of Judea and SamariaFlash 90

My good friend, Moshe Stempel, used to take prodigious notes of Rabbi Moshe Bamberger’s vaadim. Rabbi Moshe Bamberger is the mashgiach ruchani at Lander College for Men.

In one of the vaadim, Rabbi Bamberger discussed the words of the Chafetz Chaim who said that world disasters are messages from G-d to do teshuva. Also, he noted that the Rambam says that it demonstrates cruelty to attribute catastrophic events to nature.

In today’s times, teshuva is critical, as the Vilna Gaon says that any possible war of Gog or Magog that he says would last twelve minutes would be averted through teshuva.

G-d showed Moshe the world form beginning to end, and when Moshe saw the end of days, he was shown a generation that would serve G-d through self-sacrifice which would bring great joy to the Heavens. Much self-sacrifice is taking place in our days. We are surrounded by Arabs, who the Zohar proclaimed, will be a thorn in our neck in our days, and they are taking lives of Jews.

Interestingly, some tremors from recent earthquakes were felt in Judea and Samaria. One could argue this area is “hot” with kedusha, the resting place of the Avot. It’s also a hotly contested area, despite the fact that it’s clearly Jewish land.

I recently spoke with MK Rothman, who lives in Judea and Samaria and is writing the judicial reform to tame the left-leaning court. He often quotes the verse from Isaiah (1:27), “Zion will be redeemed with justice.” G-d stands for justice and hopefully we will move in that direction as a nation.

Steven Genack is the author of the book, Articles, Anectodes & Insights, Genack/Genechovsky Torah. Gefen Publishing House.